Health Affairs, 22, no. 6 (2003): 142 doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.22.6.142 © 2003 by Project HOPE	New Online   How Would Obama, McCain Cover The Uninsured?   Debating Cost Of Uninsured   Try Medicare-For-All   HA Blog Top 10

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Safety Net

PROLOGUE

The State Of The Hospital Safety Net

PROLOGUE: A recent report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on the communitywide effects of uninsurance includes some troubling findings on how hospitals are affected as the number of uninsured people in their communities rises. Urban areas with relatively high uninsured populations, for example, tend to have fewer beds per capita; to offer relatively fewer services such as AIDS and psychiatric care for more vulnerable patients; and to have less standby capacity for high-intensity services such as burn and trauma care. In rural communities, high uninsurance rates translate into lower margins and fewer intensive care and psychiatric beds. "Locally, residents . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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